Welcome! I hope you enjoy a browse through my collection of old photos of bigger families. I also welcome any contributions of photos from your family's past, and (friendly) comments.
CLICK ON EACH PHOTO TO SEE IT AT ITS ORIGINAL SIZE

Important.....

FAMILY RESEARCHERS, PLEASE NOTE.....I do not research these families and don't have any family information other than posted or linked to. If the picture is from ancientfaces.com you may be able to get more info there.
If you find your family here, please leave a comment with an accessible blogger profile so that I can reply!

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Here are two more wonderful photos from Melanie. I love this first one particularly. Mom and youngest son are looking off to the side at some distraction. I would have been so annoyed if I were Ma!Melanie doesn't have names for this one. She only knows the people are from her mother's side of the family.

Melanie writes: "This is a generation picture. I don't know the date, but I'm guessing it was taken in the late 1800's, early 1900's. Writing on the picture identifies each of the women, Grandma Schwartz, Dorothy, Great Grandma Johannes, Grandma Rosing. I am not sure if Grandma Schwartz and Grandma Rosing are both from the same generation (grandmothers of Dorothy?) or if Grandma Schwartz is the daughter of Grandma Rosing. I just know they are all from my mother's side of the family."

My opinion, just going from the picture but not knowing the family, is that the women on either side are definitely related by blood, they look so much alike; to me they look like mother and daughter. My guess is that they are both labeled "Grandma" because they are both Grandma to someone - for example, my husband's grandmother is called "Nana" sometimes and "Great-Nana" sometimes in our family, confusing the children. You can post your own opinion in the comments!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Franz Zimmerman family, with the first 4 children - taken around 1905. (This is a guess based on little Erhard's birthdate and his approximate age in the picture.) The father Franz in this picture is the same Franz who is the son of Fritz Zimmerman in the second picture in the previous post from Melanie (the post just below this one). Franz was a farmer who lived in Wisconsin. Franz and Alma had another child, Roland, after this picture was taken. Both parents and all of the children were born in Wisconsin. Franz and Alma were married in 1896 in Wisconsin.Left to rightBack: Walter (1901-1994), Franz (father 1869-1943), Herbert (1898-1928)Front: Hilda (spelled correctly 1899-1991), Erhard (1904-2006), Alma Hohenstern (mother 1877-1950)

Franz and Alma Zimmerman's 5 children - taken about 1910 (This is a guess based on Roland's birthdate and his approximate age in the picture.)Left to rightBack: Hilda (1899-1991), Walter (1901-1994)Center: Roland (1908-1981)Front: Erhard (1904-2006), Herbert (1898-1928)***These are all of the children of born to Franz and Alma Zimmerman. They are the same children as in the pictures above, except for the addition of Roland. The whole family was born in Wisconsin.

Franz and Alma Zimmerman's 4 adult children - taken in 1930's or 1940's? (guessing by their ages and the fact that brother Herbert who died in 1928 isn't in the picture)Left to right:Hilda Zimmerman Justman (1899-1991), Erhard Zimmerman (1904-2006), Walter Zimmerman (1901-1994), Roland Zimmerman (1908-1981)

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

This is the same group Denise from New Zealand is from also. Melanie sent a number of wonderful pictures - and I am going to split them up just to make them last a little longer! These are really big pictures if you click on them, and definitely worth a look!

Melanie also sent great family information - so if you're a family researcher who found us while doing research, welcome!

Here is the August Justman family - taken around 1918Left to rightBack: Esther (1894-1978), Adela (1901-1996), George (1888-1928), Walter (1896-1975), Alvin (1890-1924)Front: Ella (1892-1953), Ernestine (nee Wendegatz, mother, 1866-1950), Malinda (spelled correctly, standing 1906-1992), Herbert (seated in very front 1908-1966), August (father 1856-1925), Paul (1887-1966)***There were 2 other children who died before this picture was taken, Elmore (1898-1901) and Mathilde (spelled correctly 1904-1912).August was a farmer. He, Ernestine, and all the children were born in Wisconsin. August and Ernestine were married in 1886 in Wisconsin.

And here is the Friedrich (nicknamed Fritz) Zimmerman family - taken around 1892 or 1893 (This is a guess based on little Minna's birthdate and her approximate age in the picture.)Melanie writes:I'm not sure I have all the children labelled correctly, but I think so. The names are correct, but the order may not be.Left to right:Back: Franz (1869-1943), Johanna (nicknamed Hanna, 1872-1951), Mathilda (spelled correctly, 1867-1947), Carl (1870-1936)Front: Edward (1883-1963), Fritz (father 1843-1902), Maria (nee Voss, mother, 1846-1918), Minna (littlest girl 1888-1970), Hulda (spelled correctly 1880-1949)***Fritz was a farmer. His actual given name was John Friedrich William Zimmerman. He was born in Cortentin (Corentin?), Pommern, Germany. Papers were found dated February 15, 1845, indicating his family's immigration to the US. The family settled in Wisconsin.Maria and all the children were born in Wisconsin. Fritz and Maria were married in 1865 in Wisconsin.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

This is my mom's family, about 1949. Mom is the little girl in the front. Her name is Margaret. Behind her are the three boys next oldest, Clarence, Rodney, and Wayne. In the back from left to right are Doreen, Laura (the oldest) Al (Alfred), and Eileen, and then is their mother, Minnie, holding baby Geraldine (Gerry), and then father George. My grandmother Minnie had MS, and passed away when my mother was 13 and Gerry was 9. A few short months later Gerry also died, from a heart problem never properly diagnosed. So my mom lost both her mother and her closest sister in the space of a few months.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Here are some more great pictures from Shirley...I will soon be adding a link to her Ebay store in thanks for her many wonderful pictures here - please take a look at the Links section to the right and check out her items!

Back reads "Good family portrait." Are these a family surnamed Good, or did the family just think this was a good quality portrait? Anyway, I love the faces in this one, just wish I could see them a little better. To me it looks like several older siblings, and their descendents.

Back reads: Family Reunion, then looks like Kathryn Sloven

The above is a Photo Postcard: Addressed to Mrs P.H. Zopf (Clara) , Waterloo, Iowa - Signed Louise and all.

The above has no names on it, but to me it definitely looks like the mother and her daughters beside her, and granddaughters in the back. Not a large immediate family necessarily, but I love generational pictures.

Taken at Anderson Photographer - Kansas City, MissouriBack Reads: Before 1898 - Nellie Grant is 2nd from left in front

Now for some more large reunions. The photos are not very high resolution so you won't see a lot of detail but aren't they great?

Cecil Family - Taken Wray, Colorado - Aug 25, 1946

Walt Cross and Family - Probably taken Cope or Wray, Colorado

Family Reunion Photo - Probably taken Wray or Cope ColoradoPart of the Palmer / Cross / Cecil / Romine Family

Monday, May 7, 2007

From "Shirley" in Colorado

From Jackie, "This is a photo of my Mother's family, the O'Sullivan's, taken in Windsor, Ontario in 1935. My Mother, Mary Frances, in the foreground, was the youngest of 12 (one died as an infant/small child). My Mom was about 12 years old at the time of this picture.

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Welcome!

Comments

....are most welcome (at least if they're friendly!). They won't post immediately because I've set them for moderation because if anyone were to comment on an old post I would miss it. (Someone found a distant family member through this site, and I didn't see it for a long time!)

Help?

If there is a photo of a larger family in your own family "archives" or found photo collection, I would love to have a scan or link with permission for inclusion. I will give credit, and would love to include stories, names, and details about the families if you agree. Just a picture is fine too.

By the same token, if you know of sites I don't have, or would be willing to search (or even send me the link to) online archives of your own state, province, or country, I would be delighted!

Where are they from?

Many were purchased from online auctions, while others are from permitted sources like downloadable Canadian Archives, and AncientFaces.com. I encourage my friends (or at least I wish I could) to buy them from Ebay and email a scan to me as I've already spent way too much money to justify! Also, occasionally I will scan a picture from a book or magazine in my own possession; I believe this would fall under the allowed quoting rules?

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Why this site?

My husband and I have a bigger family by today's standards, with seven children: five boys and now two girls, plus another little boy who passed away. I love old photos, and combining these interests led me to starting a site several years ago which was lost, and now this one.

Recently I realized there may be a reason I so particularly appreciate old photos, expecially of larger families....There has been a lot of genealogical recordkeeping and research among my extended and distant relatives, resulting in numerous family history books and genealogies (including many, many large families), with hardly a single photo of anyone! This missing part of our history may be a subconscious reason I attempt to compensate in this way.

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I hope to add to the site a list of fiction and nonfiction books about bigger families. Already many have been compiled from my little shelf full of them.